A hypothetical duck-alignment.

Alan is a great agent, stellar, in fact... but two years ago, Mrs. Alan lost her job, due to health problems, she'd been in and out of her doctor's offices, and had a couple of surgeries. The bills have piled up, and there are a lot of medical bills.

Due to the loss of her job, they're been surviving on Alan's income alone for the last two years, due in large part, to Alan's juggling of lots of ducks. Fortunately, Alan planned well, and did what any good real estate agent would do. He set aside a full third of his income, year after year, and had plenty of money set aside for a down market.

Unfortunately, nobody expected this down market to last quite as long as it has, and for Mrs. Alan's medical problems to coincide perfectly with the down market.

To top things off, this is the year, that Mr. and Mrs. Alan's older daughter began college, and while it's not Harvard, it's also not cheap. And yet, due to Alan's smart planning, and lining ducks in a row, they've managed.

Mrs. Alan is on the mend, and almost ready to return to work.. but not quite yet.

They're paying off the medical bills as quickly as possible, but credit cards have been maxed out, and while there are no actual 30-day-late fees, their credit score has plummeted from what it once was, based on their credit card ratios, and a handful of slow-pays.

In an interview with a potential buyer, they have asked to see his credit report. And upon viewing that credit report they've determined that he's not "fiscally responsible" enough to handle their transaction.

Lesser agents who'd not planned as well, might have fallen by the wayside. But, no, not Alan. His superior financial planning has allowed Mr. and Mrs. Alan to stay afloat, and in fact remain financially viable. It's amazing. And yet, his credit report tells a different story.

Alan - there are a lot of people who read between the lines and one could very easily read you into this post ..... in between the lines ..... we are or become what we post about in the eyes of those who read between the lines

So I guess the part time agent with a spouse that's a millionaire that knows nothing about the market, has never written an offer or taken a listing but has a great credit score would be a great choice for an agent.

Are we within our rights to therefore ask for health reports from our physicians - after all, they're advising us about our health? Or perhaps an eye doctor who wears glasses would be a bad choice? I'm baffled by this logic.

There are too many things wrong with this hypothetical. I went through college on financial aid. Is there a problem with having your daughter file for financial aid to help the home situation? Is there a problem with anyone filing for financial aid for college? It's there for a reason. And if you haven't had any 30 day lates, your score isn't going to suffer "that" much. The ratios of what you can borrow and what you are borrowing might be higher, but as long as bills are being paid, not an issue... and woudn't most of this reflect on your wife's credit, and not yours?

I don't think this scenerio applies to your original post. Your original post talked about the agent not having a great year because of the market. My response on that was if the agent couldn't make it in this market, how great of an agent are they?

Donna - my original post talked about the credit report having no bearing, no relevance as to whether or not they are a good agent and able to successfully represent the client.

But if you want to go into the details of this 'hypothetical', just as an example, my daughter got financial aid in college... but that still left tens of thousands to be paid to the college on top of financial aid. And yes, even without 30-day-lates, if your debt/credit ratio is high, your credit would indeed suffer "that" much. And no, it wouldn't reflect solely on the wife's credit if you're married... you have joint debt.

And nowhere in my original post did I say "the agent couldn't make it"... what I said was: "I know several agents, who've had a really tough few years, whose credit scores might not have survived unscathed, who are truly excellent Realtors and know their stuff. Their current credit scores have more to do with children in college, and the temperamental real estate market, than with their knowledge and expertise.

I think that, perhaps, it's you who refuses to see the other side. Simply having a great credit score doesn't make you a great Realtor, any more than having a bad credit score makes you a bad Realtor.

Okay, I was confused and jumped into the same boat with my good pal Gayle - ( it's easy to do with that Lake talk of hers). Now, I finally get it too. Interesting post and my thoughts align with what you explained in comment #21. A poor credit score doesn't always reflect the true circumstances.

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